08JERUSALEM1089

VZCZCXR02881
00 RUEHROV

DE RUEHJM #1089 1771404
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 251404Z JUN 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1907
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC PRIORITY

UNCLAS JERUSALEM 001089

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: KWBG IS PGOV PTER ASEC

SUBJECT: GAZA CROSSINGS CLOSED AFTER QASSAM STRIKES;
PALESTINIAN SHOT NEAR KHAN YUNIS

IQ. (SBU) Palestinian press report an 80-year-old farmer was
shot and seriously injured by IDF fire early June 25, 500
meters from the perimeter fence east of Khan Yunis. There
were no Qassam rockets or mortars fired from Gaza as of 1600
local on June 25.

%2. (SBU) UN, Palestinian and NGO contacts report that all
Gaza Strip crossings were closed for humanitarian and
commercial goods on June 25. Erez crossing was open to
limited passenger traffic pre-arranged with the GOI.

13. (SBU) Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told local press
that "the closure by the occupation is a violation of the
deal for calm in Gaza," after the Israeli Defense Ministry
ordered Gaza's crossings closed in response to PIJ rocket
fire on June 24. Hamas leaders condemned the IDF killings of
PIJ and Hamas militants in the Nablus area on June 24, and
called for "resistance to Israeli atrocities" in the West
Bank, but urged Palestinians in Gaza to exercise restraint
and abide by the ceasefire and "national consensus of the
truce." Senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya told local press
that Hamas "remains fully committed to a ceasefire and is
working to implement calm, but will not act as police
securing the occupation's border," and "will not hold a rifle
in the face of resistance fighters." Other Hamas spokesmen
said Hamas is pressuring PIJ and other militant groups to
abide by the ceasefire, and that Hamas leader Sa'id Siyam met
with militant faction chiefs to persuade them to refrain from
launching attacks against Israel from Gaza.

DUFFY